Contents

Following the events of the previous film, Fin and April have remarried and are expecting another child. While Fin is in Washington, D.C. to receive an award from the president for his heroics in Los Angeles and New York, another sharknado strikes, devastating the nation’s capital. Fin and the president work together to defeat the sharks, and the storm unexpectedly and suddenly ends on its own. Fearing that April, who is at Universal Orlando with their daughter Claudia and her mother May, is in danger, Fin heads for Florida. Meanwhile, Claudia is being shown around the park by Babs Jensen with her friend Jess. During his trip, Fin encounters another sharknado, but is saved by Nova Clarke and her partner Lucas Stevens; following her near-death in Sharknado, Nova has become a hardened warrior tracking the storms with Lucas’s help. Fin hitches a ride with them but a sharknado strikes Orlando before they can arrive, and they get detoured. While attempeting to escape the ride they’re on Jess is devoured. Babs tries to join Claudia and her family but is devoured before she can reach them. They stop at a military airport where Nova and Fin receive clearance to use a fighter jet to bomb the sharknado, but Lucas is killed. Meanwhile, another sharknado develops and hits Daytona, interrupting the Daytona 500 race, killing several people and destroying many racecars. Nova and Fin release a bomb above the track and prevent further damage. However, this does almost nothing to stop the sharknadoes. Realizing that the numerous storms will soon combine into a massive “sharkicane” that will destroy the entire East Coast, Fin decides to enlist the help of his estranged father, former NASA colonel Gil Shepard, for a risky plan to destroy the storm from space.

Gil, Fin, April, and Nova reach NASA Headquarters and learn that the only solution, according to engineer Harleen Quinn, is to use a top-secret spacecraft to drop tanks of rocket fuel into the storm, destroying it from orbit. The tanks detonate but fail to stop the sharkicane; as a desperate Plan B, Gil reveals that he can deploy the Reagan-era Defense Strategic Defense Initiative satellite from outer space. Gil, Fin, and April are given instructions on how to use the weapon. There are complications, however, and Gil must sacrifice himself in order to deploy the top-secret laser weapon, and he’s stranded in space. More complications occur when, in an unprecedented turn of events, the laser beam, which purposefully destroyed the sharknadoes, propels the sharks into space. The space shuttle is attacked by sharks and, while Fin fights them off using an energy-beam chainsaw given to him by Nova, he and April are eaten by two separate sharks, which proceed to then fall back down to Earth. Though the sharks are charred, both Fin and April emerge from the sharks unharmed. When April emerges, it becomes evident that she gave birth while inside the shark. Fin decides to name his newborn son Gil in honor of his father, who is last seen having reached the moon, accomplishing his lifelong dream.

A fragment of the shuttle falls from space, and it appears it’s about to hit April. An after-movie advertisement states that fans can vote on how it plays out using the Twitter hashtags #AprilLives or #AprilDies, and the results of her fate will be revealed in the next Sharknado film.

Unlike the first two films, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! received generally negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 34% score with an average rating of 3.8/10, based on 32 critics. The consensus reads: “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! bites off more than it can chew, leaving viewers with an overlong mess that isn’t even bad enough to be good.”[2] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of a 100, which indicates mixed or average reviews based on 19 critics.[3]

Brian Lowry of Variety said the self-reference gag was beginning to yield diminishing returns. He further added that the question is whether the parent company’s insatiable appetite to cash in would hasten the feeding frenzy.[4] Don Kaplan of The New York Daily News said the movie left a fishy taste behind.[5] Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times said Sharknado 3’s absurdities was turned to funny levels. He also said it was shameless in certain ways, with one being product placement.[6] Matt Fowler from IGN said the film is surprisingly awful.[7]

Sharknado 4 was confirmed to follow upon Sharknado 3‍ ’​s premiere.[9] The film concludes with a cliffhanger regarding whether or not April is killed by falling wreckage. An ad after the film promotes a Twitter campaign offering fans the chance to decide her fate with the hashtags “#AprilLives” or “#AprilDies”, with the results to be revealed in Sharknado 4.[10] The fourth installment will air July 2016.

A promotional trailer reveals that Ziering also makes an appearance as Fin Shepard in Lavalantula, which debuted on July 25, 2015, the Saturday after Sharknado 3‍ ’​s Wednesday premiere.[11] This indicates that it takes place in a shared universe. As he says he has “shark problems right now”, this may indicate that the events of Lavalantula take place just before or concurrently with Sharknado 3. Steve Guttenberg, the star of Lavalantula, also appears in Sharknado 3; Michael Winslow also appears in both films, but as different characters.

Contents

Fin Shepard and his ex-wife April Wexler are flying to New York City to promote How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters, a book April has written about the Los Angeles sharknado. As the plane comes in for a landing through a storm, it is battered by airborne sharks, losing an engine. Sharks enter the plane, killing passengers and crew, including both pilots. While Fin successfully lands the plane, April’s hand is bitten off by a shark while she attempts to shoot it with an air marshal‘s handgun.

Fin’s sister, Ellen Brody, is sightseeing in New York with her family. Her husband, Martin, a childhood friend of Fin’s, takes their son, Vaughn, to a Mets game at Citi Field along with Martin’s and Fin’s friends Skye (who is also Fin’s ex-girlfriend) and Brian. Ellen takes their daughter, Mora, to the Statue of Liberty where she meets with her friends, Polly and Chrissie, who tell her about Fin’s flight.

At the airport, Fin warns the crowd of the impending storm, but no one takes it seriously. After accompanying April to the hospital where she undergoes surgery, Fin receives a call from Ellen and tells her to get back from Liberty Island as soon as possible. He agrees to retrieve Martin and Vaughn from the ball game, hiring a cabbie, Ben, to take him there. At Citi Field, Fin first encounters Skye. She kisses him, but he explains that he and April are back together. Fin gets them all to leave with him just as the storm arrives at the park. The sharks kill people as Fin and his group use various improvised weapons and make their way to the subway.

Ellen’s group takes the ferry to Manhattan, but a shark jumps onto the deck and kills Chrissie en route. The three remaining women escape into the city but must flee from the Statue of Liberty’s severed, rolling head, which crushes a businessman and two garbage men.

The subway floods, imperiling Fin’s group as their train is chased by sharks. Brian is killed, but the others manage to escape onto a platform. Fin calls Ben to pick them up, and they go in search of weapons and explosives. They arm themselves, but the taxi is then caught in a flood. Fin rigs a rope swing that takes Skye, Vaughn, and Martin to safety, but Ben is killed in his attempt. Fin then jumps across the sharks, using them as stepping stones to reach the others.

Two sharknadoes are converging into a more powerful storm directly above the hotel where Fin and April were planning to stay. Arriving at the hotel, Fin and Skye go to the roof to destroy the sharknadoes with their makeshift bombs. Polly is killed when a whale shark lands on her, but Ellen and Mora successfully reach the hotel, reuniting with Martin and Vaughn. Fin and Skye launch their bombs into the tornadoes, but the storm system is too cold for this to be effective; the bombs only force them to flee downstairs, away from the flaming sharks that are now falling on them. They meet the Brodys, who are fleeing upstairs due to a rising flood of sharks. They break down a door to escape the stairwell and are able to get out of the building.

Meanwhile, April rescues a young girl at the hospital and sets out to find Fin. She arrives at the hotel in a fire truck and takes the group to the Empire State Building where a third tornado is merging with the other two. The mayor is there with a task force, and they welcome Fin’s help. He plans to detonate a tank of Freon at the top of the building by connecting it to the structure’s lightning rod, freezing the storm. Fin tells a crowd of New Yorkers to prepare to fight the sharks that will fall from the sky after he destroys the tornadoes. He and Skye implement the plan, while April, who has affixed a circular saw to her stump, saves Fin from a falling shark. They successfully destroy the storm system, which sends both Fin and Skye in the air, where Skye’s legs are ripped off by 2 sharks while still alive. Fin grabs his chainsaw and uses it to kill any sharks coming to him. He grabs on to a great white shark using chains and gets the shark impaled on the antenna of the Empire State Building. Fin retrieves April’s hand from a shark’s mouth and uses the gun to defend them against the falling sharks. The New Yorkers in the streets below arm themselves and charge into battle against the sharks, killing them all. Fin takes the ring from April’s severed hand and uses it to propose remarriage, and she accepts.

In a post-credits scene, Fin goes to a pizzeria he and the group went to earlier and eats a slice of pizza.

Lauer and Roker appeared as themselves, hosting The Today Show; Abrams appeared as an anchor for The Weather Channel. Both of those properties, like Syfy, are owned by Comcast.[5] In contrast, Gelman, Strahan and Ripa all reprised their roles from Live with Kelly and Michael in the film; that show is not a Comcast property, instead directly competing with The Today Show.

Sharknado 2: The Second One received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 59% rating based on 27 critics; the consensus states: “The schlock factor for Sharknado 2: The Second One is not as entertaining as its predecessor’s, though fans of the brand will likely enjoy it.”[7] On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 50 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.[8]

Brian Lowry of Variety said the CGI sharks looked terrible.[9] Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times said that it seems nothing more than dumb fun.[10] Verne Gay of Newsday said the film doesn’t take itself as seriously as the original. He also said the film is not as good as the first.[11]

Don Kaplan of the New York Daily News said the film was “a slightly better, more watchable movie than its predecessor.”[12] Caroline Framke of The A.V. Club gave the film an ‘A’, stating the “over-hyped sequel has zero business being this much fun”.[13]

The sequel was broadcast on SyFy on July 30, 2014. In the UK, Australia and other countries, it was broadcast just minutes behind the US premiere, in most cases on each country’s respective SyFy channel. Upon airing, the film was watched by 3.9 million viewers, with 1.6 million in the 18-49 demographic.[2]

Fathom Events released the film for one night in theaters across the United States on August 21, 2014.[14]

Two pieces of tie-in merchandise were released to coincide with the release of Sharknado 2. Sharknado: The Video Game, an endless runner video game, was released on July 20, 2014 to mostly negative reviews.[15][16] A comedic survival guide entitled How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters (the book that Tara Reid’s character was to promote in the film) was released through Three Rivers Press on July 8, 2014.[17][18][19][20]

It aired on the promised date, followed by Lavalantula, which debuted July 25, 2015, the Saturday after Sharknado 3‘s Wednesday premiere.[26]Lavalantula featured Sharknado‘s protagonist in a cameo wearing a white t-shirt with crossed chainsaws. This indicates that it takes place in a shared universe. As he says he has “shark problems right now”, this may indicate that the events of Lavalantula take place just before or concurrently with Sharknado 3.

Contents

A freak cyclone hits Los Angeles causing man-eating sharks to be scooped up in water spouts and flood the city with shark-infested seawater. Bar-owner and surfer Fin sets out with his friends, Baz, Nova, and George, to rescue his estranged wife, April, and their teenage daughter, Claudia, after the bar and boardwalk is destroyed in flooding. While heading to April’s home, the group stops in a freeway to save people as flooding causes sharks to attack. George is killed and the group learns of a tornado warning. They arrive at April’s house just before the first floor is flooded and shark-infested. Collin, April’s boyfriend, is eaten by sharks, but the rest of the group escape unharmed.

Fin stops the car to save the children stuck in the bus from the assaulting sharks. Afterwards, the bus driver is killed by a piece of flying debris. While Nova is driving the car, a shark lands on top of the car and rips the roof off. Fin’s hand is cut and the group abandons the car before it explodes. They steal another car and meet up with Fin and April’s son Matt, who is found taking shelter at his flight school. As the tornado hits, his instructor is sucked out. They borrow equipment from a nearby storage and Matt and Nova become attracted to each other. Matt and Nova decide to stop the threat of the incoming “sharknadoes” by tossing bombs into them from a helicopter. Two are destroyed, but they are unable to stop the third one.

As Nova fights off a shark that had latched onto the helicopter, she falls out of the helicopter and directly into another shark’s mouth. Matt is heartbroken. Baz is also lost in the storm along with two friends of Matt. Ultimately, Fin destroys the last sharknado with a bomb attached to his car and the sharks begin to plummet toward the ground. One falling shark flies directly toward the remaining members of the group. Fin jumps into its mouth with a chainsaw and cuts his way out. He emerges carrying an unconscious but otherwise unharmed Nova. Matt is reunited with Nova, and Fin gets back together with April.[9]

Sharknado was directed for film studio The Asylum by Anthony C. Ferrante, whose previous directing credits include the horror film Boo, and written by Thunder Levin, whose previous writing credits include the film Mutant Vampire Zombies from the ‘Hood!.[3] The film’s tagline is “Enough said!”[10]Sharknado is one of many B-movies commissioned by Syfy.[11]Robbie Rist said in an interview that he came upon the film’s poster at the American Film Market and became enthusiastic about the concept. When his friend Ferrante said that he had been approached to direct the film, Rist insisted that Ferrante take the job. Rist was given a small role in the film and composed the theme.[12]

Actress Tara Reid said of the film, “It is silly, and there’s only a certain amount of barriers you could go into. You can’t take it so seriously when it’s absolutely the sharks flying in the sky. It’s so out there that it’s actually really funny.” The cast had to imagine the presence of sharks due to a green screen being frequently in use.[13] Ian Ziering stated that he had serious reservations about the script but was motivated, in part, by the need to earn enough to qualify for Screen Actors Guild health insurance for his family.[14]

In an interview with Uproxx’s Danger Guerrero, Ferrante summarized the film’s plot: “There’s a flood. And a storm. Don’t worry about it.”[15]

The premiere of the film was watched by 1.37 million viewers, which is slightly below the average audience of 1.5 million viewers for a typical Syfy original film.[11][16] The film was a trend on Twitter, including discussion by celebrities such as Damon Lindelof, Wil Wheaton, and Olivia Wilde and also by Cory Monteith, whose last tweet before his death was about the film. Due to an increase in publicity (mostly through Twitter), Syfy repeated Sharknado on Thursday, July 18, 2013, one week after its premiere. The airing was watched by 1.89 million viewers, an increase of 38% over its initial airing.[17] On July 27, a third airing of Sharknado got 2.1 million viewers, continuing the increase in popularity of the film and setting a record for most watched original film encore in Syfy history.[18]Sharknado is projected to increase revenue for The Asylum from $5 million in 2009 to $19 million in 2013.[19]

A representative of the National Weather Service jokingly recommended what to do in case of a sharknado, saying: “As with any waterspout or tornado, the best advice is to be in an interior part of the lowest floor of a sturdy building – and not outside, whether sharks are raining down or not.”[3] Organizations such as the Red Cross of Oklahoma City also used the film as an opportunity to pass on storm safety information[20] while others incorporated it into their own advertising.[21]

Regal Cinemas announced that at midnight on August 2, 2013, it would play the film in roughly 200 theaters nationally.[22] Tickets sold out quickly in New York, Boston, and Seattle, where more showings were added to appease customer demand.[23] Box office numbers were weak for the midnight showings; estimates were at under $200,000.[24]

Australia – Premiere on the The Universal Channel was scheduled for September 9, 2013,[25] but was fast-tracked to premiere on July 26, 2013, after the film’s wide international response.[26] It rated 54,000 viewers, making it the sixth most watched program for the night (and third most watched non-sport program) on subscription television.[27]

Syfy and The Asylum announced in August 2013 that Sharknado merchandise would be made available, including T-shirts and potentially other products.[29] Funko acquired the licensing agreement to manufacture the POP Vinyl version of Sharknado [30]

Sharknado received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 82% based on 17 reviews; the average rating is 6.1/10. The site’s consensus states: “Proudly, shamelessly, and gloriously brainless, Sharknado redefines ‘so bad it’s good’ for a new generation.”[31]

Reviewer Mary McNamara, writing for the Los Angeles Times, mentioned that the plot holes are “the whole point of movies like this: fabulous in-home commentary. Often accompanied by the consumption of many alcoholic beverages.”[5] David Hinckley of the New York Daily News said “Sharknado is an hour and a half of your life that you’ll never get back. And you won’t want to.”[31]

Kim Newman of Empire called the film “cynical rubbish, with an attention-getting title and just enough footage of terrible CG sharks in a terrible CG tornado chomping on people to fill out a trailer suitable for attracting YouTube hits.”[32]

Sharknado has become a cult film.[33] The film was used for a Rifftrax Live event in July 2014, where former Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast members mocked the film for a live audience and broadcast to other theaters through NCM Fathom; the idea for using the film for this was prompted by the Sharknado producers discussing the film with Fathom at the same time.[34] Ferrante said after the event that “Being skewered by the MST3K guys was an honor.”[35]

Syfy announced that they ordered a sequel to premiere in 2014, set in New York City,[36] and were running a Twitter contest to allow fans to choose the title for the new film.[37] It was announced on August 8, 2013, that the sequel would be titled Sharknado 2: The Second One.[38] The sequel premiered on July 30, 2014, and was the highest premiering film on the Syfy channel.[39]

In January 2014, Ian Ziering and Tara Reid were confirmed to reprise their roles for the sequel, along with the announcement of principal photography commencing on February 13, 2014 in order to make the previously announced Syfy channel premiere date in July. A third film, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, was scheduled for a 2015 release.[40] and eventually aired on July 22, 2015.

Although Sharknado 2: The Second One was made under union contracts, The Asylum refused to sign a union contract for the Sharknado 3 production. The crew voted to strike on March 3, 2015.

According to IATSE representative Vanessa Holtgrewe, Sharknado 2: The Second One was “the highest-rated original movie on SyFy ever. Asylum decided they weren’t going to share the success this time around with the crew.” Holtgrewe said the crew wants standardized working conditions, a pension and health benefits. Crew members from The Asylum’s non-union productions report that it often pays flat day rates for long hours that result in wages that are below the legal minimum wage.[41]

Asylum representative Scott Meehan issued a satirical statement in response to the strikers concerns: “We are happy to report that we have reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Selachimorpha, which represents the sharks in our film. We will be increasing the amount of chum at the craft services table and will no longer require our employees to sleep without moving.”[42] In March 2015, Syfy confirmed a documentary film about the series.[43]

Sharknado 3 was followed in three days by Lavalantula, which debuted July 25, 2015, the Saturday after Sharknado 3’s Wednesday premier.[45] Lavalantula featured Sharknado’s protagonist in a cameo wearing a white t-shirt with crossed chainsaws. This indicates that it takes place in a shared universe. As he says he has “shark problems right now”, this may indicate that the events of Lavalantula take place just before or concurrently with Sharknado 3.

Contents

A freak cyclone hits Los Angeles causing man-eating sharks to be scooped up in water spouts and flood the city with shark-infested seawater. Bar-owner and surfer Fin sets out with his friends, Baz, Nova, and George, to rescue his estranged wife, April, and their teenage daughter, Claudia, after the bar and boardwalk is destroyed in flooding. While heading to April’s home, the group stops in a freeway to save people as flooding causes sharks to attack. George is killed and the group learns of a tornado warning. They arrive at April’s house just before the first floor is flooded and shark-infested. Collin, April’s boyfriend, is eaten by sharks, but the rest of the group escape unharmed.

Fin stops the car to save the children stuck in the bus from the assaulting sharks. Afterwards, the bus driver is killed by a piece of flying debris. While Nova is driving the car, a shark lands on top of the car and rips the roof off. Fin’s hand is cut and the group abandons the car before it explodes. They steal another car and meet up with Fin and April’s son Matt, who is found taking shelter at his flight school. As the tornado hits, his instructor is sucked out. They borrow equipment from a nearby storage and Matt and Nova become attracted to each other. Matt and Nova decide to stop the threat of the incoming “sharknadoes” by tossing bombs into them from a helicopter. Two are destroyed, but they are unable to stop the third one.

As Nova fights off a shark that had latched onto the helicopter, she falls out of the helicopter and directly into another shark’s mouth. Matt is heartbroken. Baz is also lost in the storm along with two friends of Matt. Ultimately, Fin destroys the last sharknado with a bomb attached to his car and the sharks begin to plummet toward the ground. One falling shark flies directly toward the remaining members of the group. Fin jumps into its mouth with a chainsaw and cuts his way out. He emerges carrying an unconscious but otherwise unharmed Nova. Matt is reunited with Nova, and Fin gets back together with April.[9]

Sharknado was directed for film studio The Asylum by Anthony C. Ferrante, whose previous directing credits include the horror film Boo, and written by Thunder Levin, whose previous writing credits include the film Mutant Vampire Zombies from the ‘Hood!.[3] The film’s tagline is “Enough said!”[10]Sharknado is one of many B-movies commissioned by Syfy.[11]Robbie Rist said in an interview that he came upon the film’s poster at the American Film Market and became enthusiastic about the concept. When his friend Ferrante said that he had been approached to direct the film, Rist insisted that Ferrante take the job. Rist was given a small role in the film and composed the theme.[12]

Actress Tara Reid said of the film, “It is silly, and there’s only a certain amount of barriers you could go into. You can’t take it so seriously when it’s absolutely the sharks flying in the sky. It’s so out there that it’s actually really funny.” The cast had to imagine the presence of sharks due to a green screen being frequently in use.[13] Ian Ziering stated that he had serious reservations about the script but was motivated, in part, by the need to earn enough to qualify for Screen Actors Guild health insurance for his family.[14]

In an interview with Uproxx’s Danger Guerrero, Ferrante summarized the film’s plot: “There’s a flood. And a storm. Don’t worry about it.”[15]

The premiere of the film was watched by 1.37 million viewers, which is slightly below the average audience of 1.5 million viewers for a typical Syfy original film.[11][16] The film was a trend on Twitter, including discussion by celebrities such as Damon Lindelof, Wil Wheaton, and Olivia Wilde and also by Cory Monteith, whose last tweet before his death was about the film. Due to an increase in publicity (mostly through Twitter), Syfy repeated Sharknado on Thursday, July 18, 2013, one week after its premiere. The airing was watched by 1.89 million viewers, an increase of 38% over its initial airing.[17] On July 27, a third airing of Sharknado got 2.1 million viewers, continuing the increase in popularity of the film and setting a record for most watched original film encore in Syfy history.[18]Sharknado is projected to increase revenue for The Asylum from $5 million in 2009 to $19 million in 2013.[19]

A representative of the National Weather Service jokingly recommended what to do in case of a sharknado, saying: “As with any waterspout or tornado, the best advice is to be in an interior part of the lowest floor of a sturdy building – and not outside, whether sharks are raining down or not.”[3] Organizations such as the Red Cross of Oklahoma City also used the film as an opportunity to pass on storm safety information[20] while others incorporated it into their own advertising.[21]

Regal Cinemas announced that at midnight on August 2, 2013, it would play the film in roughly 200 theaters nationally.[22] Tickets sold out quickly in New York, Boston, and Seattle, where more showings were added to appease customer demand.[23] Box office numbers were weak for the midnight showings; estimates were at under $200,000.[24]

Australia – Premiere on the The Universal Channel was scheduled for September 9, 2013,[25] but was fast-tracked to premiere on July 26, 2013, after the film’s wide international response.[26] It rated 54,000 viewers, making it the sixth most watched program for the night (and third most watched non-sport program) on subscription television.[27]

Syfy and The Asylum announced in August 2013 that Sharknado merchandise would be made available, including T-shirts and potentially other products.[29] Funko acquired the licensing agreement to manufacture the POP Vinyl version of Sharknado [30]

Sharknado received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 82% based on 17 reviews; the average rating is 6.1/10. The site’s consensus states: “Proudly, shamelessly, and gloriously brainless, Sharknado redefines ‘so bad it’s good’ for a new generation.”[31]

Reviewer Mary McNamara, writing for the Los Angeles Times, mentioned that the plot holes are “the whole point of movies like this: fabulous in-home commentary. Often accompanied by the consumption of many alcoholic beverages.”[5] David Hinckley of the New York Daily News said “Sharknado is an hour and a half of your life that you’ll never get back. And you won’t want to.”[31]

Kim Newman of Empire called the film “cynical rubbish, with an attention-getting title and just enough footage of terrible CG sharks in a terrible CG tornado chomping on people to fill out a trailer suitable for attracting YouTube hits.”[32]

Sharknado has become a cult film.[33] The film was used for a Rifftrax Live event in July 2014, where former Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast members mocked the film for a live audience and broadcast to other theaters through NCM Fathom; the idea for using the film for this was prompted by the Sharknado producers discussing the film with Fathom at the same time.[34] Ferrante said after the event that “Being skewered by the MST3K guys was an honor.”[35]

Syfy announced that they ordered a sequel to premiere in 2014, set in New York City,[36] and were running a Twitter contest to allow fans to choose the title for the new film.[37] It was announced on August 8, 2013, that the sequel would be titled Sharknado 2: The Second One.[38] The sequel premiered on July 30, 2014, and was the highest premiering film on the Syfy channel.[39]

In January 2014, Ian Ziering and Tara Reid were confirmed to reprise their roles for the sequel, along with the announcement of principal photography commencing on February 13, 2014 in order to make the previously announced Syfy channel premiere date in July. A third film, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, was scheduled for a 2015 release.[40] and eventually aired on July 22, 2015.

Although Sharknado 2: The Second One was made under union contracts, The Asylum refused to sign a union contract for the Sharknado 3 production. The crew voted to strike on March 3, 2015.

According to IATSE representative Vanessa Holtgrewe, Sharknado 2: The Second One was “the highest-rated original movie on SyFy ever. Asylum decided they weren’t going to share the success this time around with the crew.” Holtgrewe said the crew wants standardized working conditions, a pension and health benefits. Crew members from The Asylum’s non-union productions report that it often pays flat day rates for long hours that result in wages that are below the legal minimum wage.[41]

Asylum representative Scott Meehan issued a satirical statement in response to the strikers concerns: “We are happy to report that we have reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Selachimorpha, which represents the sharks in our film. We will be increasing the amount of chum at the craft services table and will no longer require our employees to sleep without moving.”[42] In March 2015, Syfy confirmed a documentary film about the series.[43]

Sharknado 3 was followed in three days by Lavalantula, which debuted July 25, 2015, the Saturday after Sharknado 3’s Wednesday premier.[45] Lavalantula featured Sharknado’s protagonist in a cameo wearing a white t-shirt with crossed chainsaws. This indicates that it takes place in a shared universe. As he says he has “shark problems right now”, this may indicate that the events of Lavalantula take place just before or concurrently with Sharknado 3.